City wins award for exhibition
Kwinana and WA's first female town planner is still helping the City of Kwinana achieve greatness with an exhibition of her legacy winning a national award.
The City won the Planning Institute of Australia Planning Excellence Awards Promotion of Planning award this month for its Margaret Feilman Planning and Heritage Retrospective.
The City embarked on the exhibition after Dr Feilman died in 2013, and it was held last year as part of the National Trust Heritage Festival.
The Retrospective highlighted the remarkable life of Dr Feilman, who planned Medina and founded the National Trust WA branch.
Cultural development co-ordinator Pascal Veyradier said the exhibition was special because it showcased never-before-seen documents which painted a picture of the tough and inspirational woman Dr Feilman was.
"We looked deeper into her work as a planner and we realised the environment and context she was working in was challenging for a woman in those days, and we showcased all of this," he said.
"We accessed documents showing how she made her way through a man's world and a political world and managed to establish Kwinana the way it is, setting some standards in terms of planning."
Mr Veyradier said Dr Feilman was fond of keeping the bush and trees within her plans.
"People always comment on the trees and the quality of the parks when they visit Kwinana and that is all to do with Feilman," he said.
Kwinana Mayor Carol Adams said the City was proud to receive the award.
"This initiative developed networks between planners and heritage experts to promote the importance of planning in the public realm and to celebrate the achievements of a visionary citizen, Margaret Feilman," she said.
"We do have female planners now which is really wonderful, but it is really a testament to her foresight that we have been able to keep so much greenery in the planning of the City, it has just been so thoughtfully done.
"I don't think people really appreciate just how thoughtful her planning has been until recent times."
